Failure and Success
No man is worthy to succeed until he is willing to fail. No man is morally worthy of success in religious activities until he is willing that the honor of succeeding should go to another if God so wills.
Born After Midnight, 58.
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Failure and Success: True Service
…not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart,
fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and
not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward
of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
–Colossians 3:22-24
Any serious-minded Christian may at some time find himself wondering
whether the service he is giving to God is the best it could be. He
may even have times of doubting, and fear that his toil is
fruitless and his life empty….
The church has marked out certain work and approved it as service
acceptable to God, and for the most part the church has been right.
But it should be kept in mind that it is not the kind or quantity
of work that makes it true service-it is the quality.
Before the judgment seat of Christ, very little will be heard of
numbers or size; moral quality is about all that will matter
then….
It would be a shock to most of us to learn just what God thinks of
our breathless activity, and a greater shock to many to find out
the true quality of our service as God sees it. For not all
religious activity is accepted of God, not even when it appears to
produce results and get things done. The Lord seeth not as man
seeth….
In Christian service motive is everything, for it is motive that
gives to every moral act its final quality. The Next Chapter
After the Last, 69-70.
""Lord, I need that reminder: ‘Before the judgment seat of Christ,
very little will be heard of numbers or size; moral quality is
about all that will matter then.’ I’ll serve today with that in
mind. Amen.""
On this day...
- The Nicene Creed - 2024
- The Apostles Creed - 2024
- Their fear of me is a commandment taught by men - 2011
- Strange is his deed! and to work his work--alien is his work! - 2011
- Works - The Lord's Doings - 2011
- Works of God - 2011
- The song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb - 2011
- The winepress was trodden outside the city - 2011
- I will make with you an everlasting covenant - 2011
- Giving of Tithes - 2011
November 2, 2010